NEW YEAR

Motif: A Snowman How is it possible to make a selection among numerous children’s paintings with a motive of a snowman to be printed as a motive on a commemorative postage stamp? So many paintings, neat, white –blue and colourful, featuring painted and sketched snowmen out of 1720 drawings entered for competition do not succeed to finish their first winter journey, but withdraw from the competition before even coming close to a “finishing line”. Some withdraw from the race due to their weak constitution although they are all identical, composed of three delicate circular forms, with almost identical facial features, and a small size hat or a pot with stiffened arms, holding perfectly straight stick of a broom pointing somewhere in the air, not ready for any kind of action. In the first ride some snowmen made of inadequate material to participate in the competition become weary –those made of cotton, wool, pastry, tin-foil, maize. Too colourful and difficult to be identified as snowmen, giving impression of never being even close to snow, and even those pale and without strength to continue participating in competition simply give up. Disqualified are those identified as obviously being made by parents of pupils and even teachers. The second round of a competition is reserved for original snowmen-unique, brimming with positive energy, even disguised. Their seemingly clumsy appearance is not an obstacle; most important is the hint of their inner hidden strength. Competition was undecided from the very beginning to the end. Finally, members of the Commission for selection of a best snowman, among several drawings more or less with equal chances, with majority of votes selected the winner. Is it possible to guess what made a snowman-winner so special? He is small and at first sight almost imperceptible, however in the case hereof applies a rule: in order to get to know somebody we have to observe him closely. Our snowman has particularly strong round white body structure created by rolling a snowball around in snow that sticks to it, perfectly accommodated against a winter landscape, made in a gouache technique. Round head, very neatly sculpted fixed to the body, and a perfect size of pot used as a hat fastened by colourful ribbons – every detail is in function of resisting the weather and sport endurance. Along three dimensional body are fasten black buttons perfectly arranged. A yellow scarf is a perfect accessory to snowman’s personality. Two tilted stretched to the limit branches forming the snowman’s arms, his body slightly leaning in a forward direction and in the background are the line tracks visible to the point of enhancing necessary dynamics of a composition. The first impression of a viewer is that a snowman came down from a hill with great speed without thinking about possible dangers, being immerged in thoughts of preserving equilibrium and preventing any possible accident. What does his face reveal to us? A snowman is rather sleepy, surprised by his own courage and afraid of uncertainty awaiting him at the foot of a hill? However, from our experience we are aware that always when we reach our goal; regardless of being a small or a big victory our face expression transforms, from being afraid and undecided- into being proud of persistent curiosity and courage. We believe it is a case with a snowman painted by a girl Leonarda, surrounded by snowflakes giving impression of far away stars in the sky, he shall communicate a story in a form of a stamp issued commemorating a New Year’s Eve and travelling around the world, spreading his message to a far away places…